Hawaii auditor Les Kondo and the House Committee investigating him appear in court

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State auditor Les Kondo and the State House Special Committee investigating him appear to be on trial.

The House of Representatives’ Committee of Inquiry has been holding hearings since Sept. 13 about Kondo’s handling of two separate critical reviews of the management of state land by two agencies: the Agribusiness Development Corp. and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Kondo has repeatedly denied his testimony and in writing, alleging that the committee’s investigation of his work and office was inadequate and that the panel did not have legal access to the Internal Audit Office’s “working papers”.

On Tuesday, the committee issued new subpoenas and ordered Kondo to submit documents by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Some members of the committee also interviewed private witnesses.

Kondo did not follow suit. Instead, he filed a motion with the Circuit Court to give him time to seek out an outside attorney or keep a long list of subpoenas for documents and current and former employees to appear before the committee and testify under oath.

In his motion, Kondo reiterated points made in response to the committee’s summons on 29 September.

Kondo asked for “sufficient time to obtain legal counsel. … In addition, the controversial Subpoena Duces Tecum seeks to compel the submission of certain documents unrelated to the stated – and therefore legal – purpose of the committee and containing “working papers” from the Auditor’s Office, which under Section 23-9.5 Hawaii Revised statutes are confidential. “

As a result, Kondo said, “As a result, the issuing parties are demanding that the auditor’s office violate its own institution’s law, as well as the state code of ethics, which prohibits current and former employees from disclosing information that is by law or practice is not to the public accessible.”

Kondo was previously the head of the state ethics committee.

State representative Della Au Belatti – also a lawyer like Kondo – heads the State House’s investigative committee. Both in letters and during the first three days of Kondo’s testimony about the conduct of audits by Agribusiness Development Corp. and the DLNR Special Fund for Land and Development repeatedly argued through his office.

“The auditor’s response to our September 29, 2021 subpoena is confusing because what we are asking the auditor to provide are documents that are public documents,” Belatti told the Honolulu Star Advertiser today. “It is a mystery why he does not want to hand over these documents because they are connected to the SLDF and ADC audits. … These documents are intended for the public. “

Belatti said Kondo’s motion had not been assigned to a judge and that a hearing had not been scheduled. In the meantime, she said, the House Committee members will “continue our work”.

The hearings are set to continue on Wednesday with another testimony from Suzanne Case, the chairman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources that oversees DLNR.

As of Wednesday, Belatti said, all witnesses, with the exception of medical reasons, will testify in person at the State Capitol and continue to be summoned to testify on oath.

The hearings are expected to close by the end of this month, followed by an expected publication of a first draft of the committee’s findings in November. A final report is to be submitted before the beginning of the next legislative period in January.

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